Kent ii



(No Model.)

K. H. OARPER. FILLER FORMING MECHANISM FOR CIGARETTE MACHINES.

Patented Feb. 4, 1896.

I l w M a? J i M NlTED STATES ATENT FFICE...

KENT II. OARPER, OF SALEM, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE EON-SACK MACHINECOMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

FILLER-FORMING MECHANISM FOR CIGARETTE-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 554,216, dated February4, 1896.

Application filed February 19, 1895. Serial No. 538,953. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, KENT I-I. CARPER, of Salem, in the county ofRoanoke, in the State of Virginia, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Filler-Forming Mechanisms for Cigarette-Machines and Ihereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of this specification.

The present invention relates to the fillerforming mechanism of machinesfor making continuous cigarettes and to the special class of the samewhich employ endless belts arranged to form an open trough, an instanceof which is described and illustrated in United States Letters PatentNo. 247,795, issued to James A. Bonsack and datcd'October 4:, 1881. Inthis patent the trough or channel is formed of a plain bottom belt andtwo plain side belts which pass around suitable pulleys, the two sidebelts being arranged in vertical planes with their lower edges incontact with the upper surface of the bottom belt. The side belts are soguided that they converge toward each other as they pass from their rearto their forward pulleys, and at the point of their greatest convergencea grooved wheel is arranged to revolve in the open or top side of thetrough to compress the tobacco. In operation, the tobacco, properlyprepared, is delivered into the top of the trough in its rear end and iscarried onward by the simultaneous movement of the belts and isgradually compressed by the convergence of the side belts and thegrooved pressure-wheel, and brought into the form of a filler to receivethe wrapper.

It will be seen from the above description that the vertical side beltsand the horizontal bottom belt form three sides of a rectangular taperedtrough or channel having square bottom corners, and this construction inits operation gives to the tobacco when compressed into a filler acorresponding shape in crosssection upon its lower half, while its upperhalf is rounded by the operation of the grooved pressure-wheel. Thesquare or semisquare shape given to the filler is less desirable than around or cylindrical shape, inasmuch as it is more difficult to properlyapply the wrapper thereto, and the completed cigarette by reason of itsirregular shape is lacking in symmetry.

It is the object of the present invention to give to the bottom portionof the filler a rounded shape, and at the same time to preserve asnearly as possible the construction of endless belts and the partsimmediately connected therewith, substantially as set forth in the saidBonsack patent. To accomplish this result, I make no change in the sidebelts, but form a rounded groove in the lower belt, which will have suchrelation to the side bolts that at the greatest point of theirconvergence the rounded groove or depression of the bottom belt willgive to the lower part of the filler a rounded or circular shape, whilea suitably-shaped pressure deviceoperating above the groove of thebottom belt and between the side belts will give a rounded or circularshape to the upper portion of the filler. The pulleys over which thebottom grooved belt runs are preferably grooved to correspond with thegroove in the belt. The belts are made of thin steel, brass or othermetal, and must be suffioiently flexible to pass around their pulleys,and the groove in the bottom belt may be formed by the well-knownoperation of spinning or in any other suitable manner. I

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 is a plan view of the filler-forming mechanism of acigarette-machine. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section through the line m00 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of certain parts shown in Fig.2, and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the bottom belt whose groove-wallis provided with transverse slits.

In the drawings, A represents the bottom belt provided with a concaverounded groove B, which passes around pulleys G C, which are providedwith grooves D, corresponding with the groove of the belt.

E E are two plain side belts which pass around forward pulleys, F F, andrear pulleys, G G. These belts converge toward each other from theirrear pulleys toward the front ones and thus form, in conjunction withthe bottom belt, A, a tapering channel or trough whose top is open for aconsiderable distance in advance of the rear pulleys to permit of thedelivery of the tobacco therein.

The pairs of pulleys F and G are preferably provided with flanges H upontheir upper edge faces to keep the lower edges of the belts E E incontact with the surface of the lower belt, A. An abutment orfoundation-piece I is shown beneath the bottom belt, which is preferablygrooved to correspond to the groove in the belt, and abutments orbackingpieces J are shown outside of the inner limb of the side beltsfor the purpose of guiding and holding these belts in proper relation toeach other and to prevent them from yielding under the downward andoutward pressure of the tobacco.

A pressure-wheel K is located at or near the point of greatestconvergence of the side belts E E. This wheel is preferably grooved togive a rounded or cylindrical shape tothe upper part of the filler asthe tobacco is fed past this point. The periphery of this wheel revolveswithin the trough and near enough to the bottom thereof to form a fillerof the desired diameter, and it is mounted in, any desired manner to theframe of the machine andis preferably driven by the friction of theadvancing filler against its periphery.

The pulleys over which the bottom and side belts pass may be supportedupon the frame of the machine as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawin gs, andmay be driven through any suitable connections with the main shaft ordrivingpulley of the machine In the said Letters Patent No. 247,795,above referred to, Fig. 3 shows the rear pulleys of the side belts asdrivenbybeveled gears formed on their lower edges, which meshwithcorrespondingly beveled gears formed on the opposite edges of the faceof the bottom belt-pulley, while the latter is driven by beveled gearconnections with the shaft G as shown in Figs. 3 and a: of said LettersPatent.

It will be observed from the above descriptions and the explanation ofthe accompanying drawings that the filler is formed or completed at thepoint shown in Figs. 2 and 3, where the lower edges of the side beltsrun along the edges of the groove B of the bottom belt, and the groovedpressure-wheel K operates to press the tobacco down'into' this grooveand against the side belts, thus rounding the filler upon its bottom aswell as upon its top portion.

If necessary to relieve the strain upon the bottom belt due. to thepresence of the groove therein as this belt passes round its pulleys, Iform narrow slits L across the wall of the groove, as shown in Fig. at.These slits permit the portions of the wall of the grooves 011 each sideof the slits to come close together as the belt passes over its pulleys,and relieves the strain to which it would otherwise be subjected. Theslits should be near enough together to accomplish this purpose and atthe same time should be sufficiently narrow to prevent the fibers oftobacco from entering them when the tobacco receiving and carryingportion of the belt is running in nearly a horizontal plane.

Inasmuch as this invention relates solely to mechanism for forming thetobacco into a continuous filler or rod, it is obvious that it isimmaterial what means or devices may be employed to prepare thetobaccoand deliver it into the tapered channel or trough formed by the belts,or what devices maybe employed to apply and secure the wrapper to theformed fillers, or to cut the continuous cigarette into marketablelengths, and, therefore, I donot wish to limit my invention to the useof any special means or devices for performing any of these operations.

"What is claimed as new is,

1. In a filler-forming mechanism of a cigar-V ette-machine, thecombination substantially as set forth, of an endlessgrooved bottom beltof thin metal, correspondingly grooved pulleys over which the beltpasses, two endless converging side belts and a grooved pressurewheeloperating to press down the tobacco between the side belts, wherebythere is formed a tobacco feeding and compressing channel or trough witha, rounded bottom and a device to round the top section of the filler.

2. In a filler-formin g mechanism of a cigarette-machine, thecombination substantially as set forth, of an endless grooved bottombelt of thin metal, the wall of whose groove ispro- Vided with narrowslits, two endless converging side belts and a pressure device operatingto press down the tobacco between the side belts, for the purposedescribed.

KENT II. CARPER. Witnesses T. J. SHICKEL, W. B. BoWLEs.

